Celebration puts diversity on display
Published Feb. 5, 2008
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Junior Beng Song serves Malaysian pork rib soup to senior Victor Sung at the Missouri International Student Council's welcome party Saturday in Memorial Union. The event played host to a variety of student organizations that provided food and information on the council.
Stotler Lounge was decorated with colorful balloons, bright lights and an assortment of different cultural organizations Saturday night for the Missouri International Student Council’s welcome party.
As guests entered, they were each given a raffle ticket, then they went around enjoying the ethnic music, food and other information provided by the organizations in attendance.
MU’s Thai Student Association served Thai cuisine such as yam woon sen, a mixed salad with noodles, while brightly colored bulletin boards told a story about Thailand’s history.
The group also had artifacts from Thailand on display, and group members played two Thai musical instruments, the soruu and the khim, periodically throughout the evening. Kanchana Songkittiphong, one of the members of the Thai association, dressed in a light pink and green traditional Thai bridal garment, while Artitaya Jantaraprapa, another of the association’s members, talked about their New Year’s festival in April. Other organizations also expressed their excitement.
“AIESEC is the largest student organization in the world whose goal is for creating cultural awareness and understanding,” AIESEC member Llona Weiss said.
The organization gave out brownies along with more information about the group for interested guests.
Four Front, a coalition of minority organizations, was in attendance as well.
“We work toward social change and encourage diversity,” Four Front Chairwoman Bria Scudder said.
Scudder gave out small bags of candy with the information about Four Front’s next meeting.
The African Students Association was also a popular organization that night.
ASA member Nadege Uwase said the group’s principles are to teach awareness and to teach about Africa’s history. They served chin-chins, a small, square-shaped butter cookie from Nigeria, along with store-bought cookies called Afrika.
Everything from sushi to Kung Pow chicken was served at the welcome party. As the night ended, people had the chance to go onstage and sing their native national anthem for a free T-shirt.
“It’s nice to have everybody from different countries all in one place,” junior Miranda Petty said. “I like to feel the diversity on campus.”
